Minutes

Wednesday, September 6, 2006

Commissioners Present:

Gloria Polzin, Angel Austin, Mauragrace Healey, Kathleen Wyatt

Guests Present: Janette Kirchhofer (commissioner-elect) and Ben Erickson - City Councilor, Suzanne Dinsdale

The meeting was called to order at 7:06 pm.

Approval of Minutes:

The Approval of the Minutes was delayed a few minutes until a quorum arrived.

Financial Statement

Mauragrace gave us her final financial report at her last official day as an Arts Commissioner. She gave each of us a full printout of the spreadsheets for our perusal. She also has everything ready to hand off to our new treasurer, Rochelle Shibahara.

A Formal Thank you and Good Bye

When Mauragrace was completed with her report Gloria presented her with a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers and we all gave her standing ovation for her tireless efforts on behalf of the Art's Commission

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Public Input

Ben Ericsen, City Councilor had 4 things he thought the Arts Commission would be interested in knowing. 1) There is a gateway project that is scheduled in 2009 that has received a grant from ODOT. Hwy 224 will be adding sidewalks and an attractive island in the area adjacent to Les Schwab Tires up to the stoplight. This will help to slow traffic down as the public enters the city of Estacada. This project will not qualify for the 1% art amount but those who are creating this project plan to make it attractive and aesthetic. Ben suggested we keep this in mind and find out if there is any input or involvement the Arts Commission can give to this project.

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2) The Wade Creek Park (which also includes the Skate Park) - a grant of $370,000 has been received from the Parks and Recreations Department. The Master Plan is potentially going to be in the $2 million area. If this is the case then the Wade Creek Park will qualify for the 1% (or $20,000) in arts. We could possibly ask for the 1% now from the grant to set aside for art acquisitions when the Park is the building stages. We must stay involved in the project from start to finish.

3) The City Council has recently decided to budget $25,000 for a feasibility study of what to do with the additional space we now have in the City Hall. Becoming a historical landmark may also be a possibility, which should involve the Arts Commission eventually. We should stay involved with this project.

4) The newly formed Veteran's Group in Estacada has been given the opportunity to erect a Memorial on a piece of land next to the Oddfellows Hall. This is the beginning process of this potential project - but the Arts Commission should keep involved in this.

Summer Celebration:

Gloria announced that most of the loose ends are finished at this time - although we will still be receiving some grant money towards the Celebration. Gloria also stated that Jami is already starting publicity for next year's celebration and Mauragrace handed out small cards that talk about how a potential arts vendor can apply for a space starting January 1, 2007.

Publicity:

Kathleen reported that she has recently spoken with the editor of the Estacada News regarding a monthly column. He said he would get back to her regarding the size and text allowance. She felt she would like to start with a bio of the each Arts Commissioner and possibly have explanations of the various arts committees in Estacada, i.e. Artback, etc. Gloria also inserted that it would be excellent to include some information from the post event survey in an article.

Fundraising

Mauragrace mentioned that a particular grant is due in October - small discussion then followed. Gloria said she would find out more about the particular grant and see if it was possible to still find a way to get it submitted before the due date.

Grants 101

Mauragrace was kind enough to give us a 101 course on writing grants. She included the various steps one must take including Shopping for Grants - Focus Areas, Grant Stages/Life Cycle, Requirements and Conditions, What is included in a Grant Application and how we can all help. We realize now why the effort to do this requires such commitment and hard work. She also brought her many files, which included every grant requests and supporting papers - along with letters, surveys, newspaper articles, etc. It is going to be a huge foot size to fill her shoes.

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There was some continued discussion and concern that we may not have anyone to write our grants at this time. It was also discussed that the Oregon Arts Grant application that is due in October is actually the responsibility of the Summer Celebration group.

Some possibilities of grant writers are our new commissioner to be - Janette who is extremely interested in learning how to do this correctly and possibly Steve Amick.

Community Relations:

Gloria asked about the Estacada Tourism Committee - Kathleen will start attending these meetings in October and thereafter. The meetings have been cancelled the past couple of months. Gloria also mentioned that "Quadrant Homes" had promised $2500 for the Summer Celebration.

School Relationships:

Angel reported that there is nothing new at this time.

Public Art Opportunities

This was not discussed because of a lack of time.

Friends of the Arts

Rochelle was unable to come because of her responsibilities with her new, beautiful twins.

Art & Culture Series

Jami was unable to be here because of a prior commitment.

Library Quilt Project

Gloria reported that this was submitted - "The spark that inspires...."

Dates to Remember

Wednesday, September 20th - Symphony Meeting

Don't forget - next month's meeting is October 4th.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:27pm.

Kathleen Wyatt, in lieu of actual Secretary, Jami Berry